Official: Gooch not bought by Newcastle (Allerdyce)

Neither Bramble or Onyewu were Premiership standard defenders. It finally took a manager with some balls to do what should have been done a long time ago.

 

Actually, some of them are IMO. Not every team in the premiership can have the type of defenses like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea with very good depth. Those are World Class clubs that try to get the best players money can buy at any and all positions. A bit less so with Liverpool and Arsenal who are more restricted than the other two, but still, they're well above the norm. Hell - several of the players on their benches are infinitely better than starters on other premiership clubs.

Now... I don't think the players were at the standard that Newcastle may have wanted or aspired for, and Newcastle clearly want a couple of better players and that I can understand. But they have to be willing to pay for that quality as well. If Newcastle wants to be a top 5 club, they have to get the players to take them there all around.

 

As has been said before many times, NUFC are like other middle-large clubs (Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Villa). They cannot quite get used to the idea that they shouldn't be competing with the big 4. That means the fuse is very short for players. Onyewu needed some place he could transition to and become accustomed to the English game. He didn't have that at NUFC.

Better that he end up somewhere that would give him more time to adjust because the fans/board don't think they should be in Europe (Blackburn, Fulham, Portsmouth), or would give him a very fine supporting cast and allow him to work in as a role player (big 4 or elsewhere with very stable defense).

Newcastle's rotating cast of defenders (Bramble, Boumsong, Moore) is as much a reflection of the club as the players themselves. Remember, Boumsong, a Newcastle failure if there ever was one, went to Juventus, who even if temporarily in Serie B is a superior judge of talent, and was on the 2006 France World Cup team.

 

Just not good enough in the short amount of time he had to prove himself. The problems with the defense extend to the left and right back position as well so look for Carr and Babayaro also to be shown the door/allowed to find other clubs. We need to bring in a CB that has some quickness to partner with a slower but solid Steven Taylor and both Gooch and Bramble are ill suited to fill that role.

 

alternative explanation: he is not good enough.

 

I think you're missing the point here which is Bramble is the big story not Gooch. Bramble was the player that was the cause of so much consternation among our supporters. Bramble is the one that may develop into an truly dominant player if he can learn to maintain his concentration for 90 min. Gooch is a footnote in this story at least from the supporters pov. Loans deals don't work out all the time nor is the club being overly cautious the simple explanation is that Gooch was needed as cover for an injured Moore and Bramble and didn't show himself to be superior to either during his loan spell.

Big Sam Wields His Axe!

Bramble gets a lot of stick but if he was American he would be our #1 CB by a mile.

 

don't beieve that for a nanosecond.

 

Unfortunately, I have to agree. In the games that I saw, he was not the dominant player I expected him to be. He didn't seem all that comfortable and did not appear to improve as time went on.

He's still a diamond in the rough, IMO, but relies too much on physical overpowering than solid, defensive play.

Will he ever get out of "diamond in the rough" mode? Will he ever develop into the type of solid defender the USMNT really needs? Who knows? Only time will tell ... at this point in time, DeMerit looks to be a more solid central defender.

 

the problem is he is awkward, and being 6'4" is part of the problem. It is hard to learn to be more agile.
The frst time I saw him play I noticed he was not agile, which worried me. I have never rooted against him but agility is not "just another" aspect of soccer.

 

Why would you? You've probably only seen him play three or four times.

 

maybe 10 times. But that is enough to form some opinion and I have to say I have never been impressed.. at all.

 

Im afraid i must concur. He needs to work on his technical game. This is a very discouraging week at Yanks Abroad. Wincing at the thought of what will happen when Fulham cleans house.

 

Boca Mac and Demps are among their best players so I am not concerned.

 

The only appropriate reply to this sentiment...

 

What I also find distressing about this is that, apparently, Gooch had quite a few clubs to pick from in terms of where he would go. He picked NUFC. It did not turn out right.....I hope he gets to pick again and that he picks better. I think the expectations there were pretty high - IIRC the manager wanted a vocal leaderplayer to come in and help control things in the back. I would like to still think (hope??) that Gooch has what it takes, hopefully he lands somewhere that allows him to continue to grow....although now it will be for less money probably.

 

Well I guess now its off to Real Madrid

 

Not that I know what, if any, leads Gooch has, just to reiterate my point from earlier -- Jean Alain Boumsong, a far bigger failure at NUFC than Gooch, went to Juventus. It's not like Newcastle failure itself makes him radioactive.

 

What about the US National Team Perspective-

If Gooch still needs time to develop what does this mean for the Nats?
Personally I felt that he was less than steady against Eucador and may not be ready to start for the Nats either.
If so what do we have in central defense? Not much, is my first impression.

Perry Stein

 

Not sure how they are at central D in the CC, but it would be great if he goes to Sunderland and becomes a big-time EPL defender.

Would be a complete double-blow to NUFC.

 

He went to Juventus the same year Juventus were relegated to SerieB. A Juventus competing in the CL wouldn't be playing Boumsong (who hasn't been great for France either, by any stretch). Newcastle tend to buy bad defenders rather than ruin good defenders' careers (that's something Inter Milan excel at).

As for Onyewu, from the Newcastle games I saw, he seemed to be having the most trouble adjusting to the positioning of the EPL when coupled to its pace. (Not unlike what Bouhlarouz had issues with for Chelsea.) If Onyewu played longer and if he were paired with either a great veteran organiser or a very quick player who could cover for his mistakes he'd likely do better. Bramble and Taylor, however, were neither. I certainly think he can be a serviceable CB for most clubs in the EPL with enough experience and the right partnership. However, I think we can put the "he should be good enough for any top 4 EPL club" discussions to rest.

 

Tottenham and Aston Villa have the money and can compete with the top four, if not quite achieve the same depth across the board.

Everton is definitely a step below while ManCity is in limbo.

As to Bramble ... athletic defenders with frequent concentration lapses is Fulham's milieu.